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The Chrysalids Wiki
Welcome to the The Chrysalids Wiki This wiki is a free to-edit wiki about the great book The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Summary Some thousands of years in the future, set in a post-apocalyptic Labrador. The inhabitants of Labrador have vague historical recollections of the "Old People", a technologically advanced civilization which existed long ago and which they believe was destroyed when God sent "Tribulation" to the world to punish their forebears' sins. Many of the inhabitants practice a form of fundamentalist Christianity with post-apocalyptic prohibitions. They believe that in order to follow God's word and prevent another Tribulation, they need to preserve absolute normality among the surviving humans, plants and animals. Genetic invariance has been elevated to the highest religious principle, and humans with even minor mutations are considered "Blasphemies" and the children of the Devil. Individuals that are born unfit of the strict physical norm are either killed or sterilized and banished to the Fringes, a lawless and untamed area still rife with animal and plant mutations. Arguments occur over the keeping of a tailless cat or the possession of over sized horses. These are deemed by the government to be legitimate breeds either pre-existing or achieved through conventional breeding. The inland rural settlement of Waknuk is a frontier farming community, populated with hardy and generally religious individuals. Ten year-old David Strorm, the son of Waknuk's eager and religious patriarch, has inexplicably vivid dreams of brightly lit cities and horseless carts that are at odds with his pre-industrial experience. Despite David's rigorous religious training, he befriends Sophie, a girl carefully concealing the fact that she has six toes on each foot. With the nonchalance of childhood David keeps her secret. The subsequent discovery of Sophie's mutation and her family's attempted flight from the feared reprisals causes David to wonder at the brutal persecution of human "Blasphemies" and the ritual culling of animal and plant "Deviations". David and a few others of his generation harbour their own invisible mutation: they have telepathic abilities. David begins to question why all who are different must be banished or killed. As they mature, David and his fellow telepaths realize that their unusual mutation would be considered a "blasphemy" and they carefully conceal their abilities. That their mutation cannot be directly detected allows their unusual abilities to remain undiscovered for a time. Eventually some of the group are exposed and David, his half-cousin Rosalind and younger sister Petra flee to the Fringes. They are quickly pursued by a group of villagers who intend to capture and interrogate them, however the group includes Michael, a fellow telepath who covertly assists their escape. Through the extremely strong telepathic abilities of Petra they make contact with a more advanced society in distant "Sealand". With Michael's help David, Rosalind and Petra elude their would-be captors and are rescued by a Sealand expedition sent to discover the source of Petra's telepathic transmissions. Due to limited fuel on the Sealand craft, they are unable to return to Waknuk to collect Rachel, so Michael remains behind to be with her. Though the nature of "Tribulation" is not explicitly stated, it is implied that it was a nuclear holocaust, both by the mutations, and by the stories of sailors who report blackened, glassy wastes to the south-west where the remains of faintly glowing cities can be seen (presumably the east coast of the US). Sailors venturing too close to these ruins experience symptoms consistent with radiation sickness. A woman from Sealand, a character with evident knowledge of the Old People's technology, mentions "the power of gods in the hands of children". Characters Michael, '''the most objective, perceptive and decisive of the telepaths, the best educated, and in many ways plays a leading role in the group despite his physical absence from events in the story. His telepathic abilities remain secret, and during the pursuit into the Fringes he joins the leading posse in order to give updates and warnings to David, Rosalind and Petra as they flee. He is also in love with Rachel. '''Katherine, one of the telepathic members of their group. Sally, one of the telepathic members of their group. Anne, '''one of the telepathic members of their group. Wife of Alan Ervin. Sister of Rachel. '''Rachel, '''one of the telepathic members of their group. Sister of Anne. The last remaining telepath in Waknuk after David, Rosalind and Petra are brought to Sealand. She is afraid of loneliness, while being in love with Michael, as Rosalind loves David. As a result of this love, Michael remains behind with Rachel when they find out that the aircraft bringing the four of the telepaths to Sealand does not have enough fuel to collect Rachel from Waknuk and get home again. He hopes to arrive in Sealand with Rachel later, after making their own way there. '''Mark, one of the telepathic member of their group. Walter Brent, one of the telepathic members of their group. Killed early in the book in a tree accident. Gordon/Spider man, Deviation brother of Joseph Strorm. Leader of the Fringes. The Sealand Woman, and her people are from a more technologically advanced society where telepathic ability, while not ubiquitous, is far more common and is accepted, promoted and studied. '''Uncle Axel, '''is a pretty cool crippled uncle who helps David and his telepathic friends in their escapades throughout the book. Category:Browse